I (however behind the times i am) have basically just discovered that a fascinating area of science has been spawned from the discover of quarks. Of coarse i've heard of them before, but not realized how involved it all is. So i wanted to read up on the subject, and i cant tell what the hell is going on.

 

Can someone direct me toward a book or such that could help me understand the basics of quarks and related particles, without making it a lifelong study for comprehension? Something simple enough me to understand (within reasonable range of effort), but goes in enough depth to be exciting. Appreciate anything ya'all can offer.

Try http://webphysics.davidson.edu/mjb/qcd.html and http://particleadventure.org

CERN's Particle Adventure is a great page. And Hyperphysics does a nice job too, if you want to get straight to the point.

 

There's also a very nice summary of the standard model here.

More links : "The Search for the Top Quark", from Fermilab

 

http://www-ed.fnal.gov/samplers/hsphys/activities/student/index.html

http://www-ed.fnal.gov/samplers/hsphys/activities/student/resources.shtml